Final Fantasy VIII (PSX, 1999)

There are many reasons why my love of Final Fantasy VIII has persisted over the years, but I’ll never forget the visual spectacle it packed onto the tiny CRT monitor I used to play on. It starts with the opening: a gorgeous, pre-rendered movie of pure eye candy tastefully showcasing events from the game; no spoilers, just promises of what was to come with elegant characters capable of expressing emotion amid beautiful landscapes and environments. And it wasn’t just the opening: Each character’s introduction cutscene was full of life, making them instantly memorable and charismatic despite never speaking an actual voiced word.

On original, period-appropriate hardware, Final Fantasy VIII’s real-time polygon characters sat perfectly against the pre-rendered 2D backdrops—and in a way that the current Remastered version does not replicate (it’s making me rethink my current playthrough of the modern release in favor of the original). In select sequences, FF8 would also do this wondrous thing where the characters would be controllable over a pre-rendered cutscene, making it feel like you were actually playing amid those gorgeous visuals. Leaving the infirmary is a great example early on, but so is the Edea sequence in Deling City.

Final Fantasy VIII’s environments were a beautiful dreamy landscape of science fiction meets fantasy. The Lunatic Pandora, Sorceress Memorial, the halls of the Ragnarok, and more were all brought to life with delightfully clear pre-rendered backdrops that felt like real, lived-in places. The game weaves its gorgeous riddle of a fantasy tale through that fantastic visual fidelity, and is a large part of why I’m becoming more and more convinced that Final Fantasy VIII is my favorite of the era. — Claire Jackson